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UNEP and Brazilian National Water Agency Team up to Foster Monitoring of Water Quality in Brazil and Other Developing Countries Tue, Aug 5, 2014

ANA to house regional center for the UNEP GEMS-Water programme

credit: UNDP-UNEP PEI

Nairobi, 5 August 2014 - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Brazilian National Water Agency (ANA) have signed a memorandum of understanding for the agency to host a regional centre for water quality monitoring. ANA will become the national focal point for the Global Environment Monitoring System for Water (GEMS-Water), and also interact with other nations from Latin America and the Caribbean and from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).

The document was signed in July in São Paulo during a visit by the UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner to Brazil, and the President of ANA, Vicente Andreu. The UNEP Representative in Brazil, Denise Hamú, also participated in the meeting.

The GEMS-Water programme hosts a global network for water monitoring with more than 4,000 stations. Established in 1977, the network offers more than 4 million records collected in more than 100 countries, available on the internet for research centres, governments and other organizations.

"The efficient management of water resources and regional collaboration initiatives between developing countries, such as the ANA-GEMS-Water partnership, are key steps to ensure the sustainable use of water and protect this vital resource," said Mr. Steiner.

"Water, sanitation, and the related infrastructure are critical to economic development. Today, this challenge is compounded by the impacts of climate change on water resources, including increased water scarcity and damage to the infrastructure we use to transport and deliver water. All of this underscores the need to promote sound governance approaches and adaptive water institutions, including through South-South cooperation," he added.

With the agreement, ANA will be the interface of GEMS-Water in Brazil, collecting data and sharing information on water quality according to UNEP standards. The agency will also promote capacity-building initiatives at Latin America, Caribbean and the CPLP, disseminating techniques for water monitoring and promoting the GEMS-Water Global Water Quality Data and Statistics.

"ANA promotes, since 2010, a National Programme for Water Quality Evaluation (PNQA in Portuguese), with the main objective to improve information on water quality in Brazil. The partnership with UNEP recognizes this effort, and will be a big addition to ANA's initiatives in monitoring water quality and disseminating information", said Mr. Andreu.

The partnership is established under UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), in close collaboration with the UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC)-Brazil Office.

In addition to the regional collaboration, the UNEP-ANA joint effort will support the launching of new studies and assessment reports on water quality, invite other nations to join the GEMS-Water global network and facilitate data sharing through the UNEP Live platform, among other initiatives.